Brightwaters

History

Brightwaters was developed in the early 20th Century by the T.B. Ackerson Company, which was known for its work in Brooklyn. By 1916, locals felt that their community – which, at the time, was still an unincorporated part of the Town of Islip – would be better off if they were to incorporate it as a village, citing concerns over how their community was being taxed, and how they had to pay for private subscriptions for services which they believed should have been provided to the area by Islip through their taxes. This prompted the locals to sign a petition to incorporate Brightwaters as a village. The petition was given to the Town of Islip on September 20, 1916, and Brightwaters officially became an incorporated village on November 30 of that year.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.26%, is water. It contains Wohseepee Park in northern Brightwaters, the Brightwaters Canal directly south of Montauk Highway, and four lakes directly north of Montauk Highway: Cascades Lake, Mirror Lake, Lagoon Lake and Nosrekca Lake. The village's businesses are located at the intersection of Windsor Avenue and Orinoco Drive (referred to as Brightwaters Village). These geographic features make up the three districts of the village; the Canal District (southern Brightwaters, everything south of Montauk Highway), the Lakes District (central Brightwaters, everything north of the highway to Union Boulevard) and the Wohseepee Park District (northern Brightwaters, everything north of Union Boulevard to Seneca Drive). Brightwaters uses the 11718 ZIP code, which is distinct from the Bay Shore Postal District (11706).

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• BRENTWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
  High · BRENTWOOD · 4,641 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• CENTRAL ISLIP SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · CENTRAL ISLIP · 2,576 students · 17.5:1 ratio
• BAY SHORE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · BAY SHORE · 1,910 students · 11.5:1 ratio
• LINDENHURST SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  High · LINDENHURST · 1,897 students · 11.7:1 ratio
• CONNETQUOT HIGH SCHOOL
  High · BOHEMIA · 1,757 students · 11.1:1 ratio
• WALTER G O'CONNELL COPIAGUE HIGH SCHOOL
  High · COPIAGUE · 1,524 students · 14.5:1 ratio
• NORTH BABYLON HIGH SCHOOL
  High · NORTH BABYLON · 1,506 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• HALF HOLLOW HILLS HIGH SCHOOL EAST
  High · DIX HILLS · 1,473 students · 10.2:1 ratio